Choose your bowls wisely

Published 4:00 am, Monday, December 17, 2001

Football is always the staple of sports-television viewing during the holiday season, and the closer you get to the end of the year, the more games there are to watch. The experienced TV-football glutton has learned to adjust his mental calendar this time of year, because the schedule is nothing like the rest of the football season.

This week, college games are on nearly every day except Saturday, which is the traditional home for college ball, while the two NFL games of Bay Area interest are not on the sacred pro football day of Sunday, but on Saturday, the day usually reserved for college fight songs and Bowl Championship Series criticism.

The bowl season gives viewers a variety of games, most of which provide only a pleasant backdrop for your egg-nog party. First, it's the New Orleans Bowl (North Texas vs. Colorado State) at 5 p.m. tomorrow, then the GMAC Bowl (East Carolina vs. Marshall) at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Both of those games are on ESPN2.

ESPN has the Florida Tangerine Bowl (N.C. State vs. Pittsburgh) at 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, and ESPN has the Division I-AA title game (Furman vs. Montana) at 2: 30 p.m. Friday. If you knew which teams are playing, consider yourself way too involved in this stuff, step back and reintroduce yourself to your wife and kids.

You justifiably might return to tunnel-vision viewing Saturday, when the 49ers host the Eagles at 2 p.m. on Fox, which will be followed at 6 p.m. by the Raiders' home game against the Titans on ABC -- that is, assuming the Raiders' game is sold out and not blacked out.